My celery-hating friend enjoyed eating at restaurants, and many of them were undoubtedly flavoring any number of sauces, stews, salads, soups, and braises with the vegetable Combined with pungent onions and sweet, earthy carrots, celery, with its slight bitter edge, forms the backbone of half the dishes in the Western repertoire Potato salad or a lobster roll wouldn’t be the same without its distinctive crunch and fresh flavor, and the Chinese learned long ago that celery is particularly good in a spicy stir-fry Even the leaves can be used as a flavorful garnish This guide will help teach you to cut celery into all of the major shapes and sizes Shopping and Storage When buying celery, look for heads with tightly bundled stalks still attached at the root and a bright green to yellowish-green color Skip any that have bruised brown spots or look overly fibrous Avoid those in sealed packs, which can often hide blemishes A good grocery store will keep its celery stalks lightly misted with water to keep them fresh and crisp Once at home, celery can wilt in a matter of days It’s best to store it in a slightly open plastic bag or a perforated plastic bag to help it retain moisture but still give it room to breathe Use the vegetable crisper drawer if you’ve got one Properly stored, celery should last up to a week and a half Stalks that have started to go limp can be revived by cutting them off and standing them cut end down in a cup of water in the fridge If you want to use the leaves as garnish, pick the pale yellow ones closest to the center of the bunch (darker green leaves can be tough or fibrous) and store them in a container of water with a few ice cubes in the fridge until ready to use They make a great addition to mixed green salads STEP 1: EQUIPMENT (See photo here.) You’ll need a sharp chef’s knife or santoku knife and, if you want to get extra fancy, a vegetable peeler STEP 2: SEPARATE THE STALKS Separate the individual stalks by gently pulling them out from the bottom until they snap off ...yellow ones closest to the center of the bunch (darker green leaves can be tough or fibrous) and store them in a container of water with a few ice cubes in the fridge until ready to use They make a great addition to mixed green salads... STEP 1: EQUIPMENT (See photo here.) You’ll need a sharp chef’s knife or santoku knife and, if you want to get extra fancy, a vegetable peeler STEP 2: SEPARATE THE STALKS Separate the individual stalks by gently pulling them out from the bottom... extra fancy, a vegetable peeler STEP 2: SEPARATE THE STALKS Separate the individual stalks by gently pulling them out from the bottom until they snap off